Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
Max Verstappen’s struggles in Australia were there for all to see, and the four-time world champion knows Red Bull need to bridge the gap.
Verstappen’s disastrous crash in qualifying led to him starting P20 at Albert Park. However, in typical fashion, Verstappen managed to zoom past the field into sixth place relatively easily.
Verstappen then found himself battling Lando Norris again, this time for fifth place. Ultimately, it was too much for the Dutch ace, who settled for sixth in the end.
A first fastest lap of the season for Max Verstappen! Where would he have finished if he started in the top 10?
Verstappen and Red Bull struggled for pace compared to Mercedes and Ferrari. And it looks like that could be the case for the rest of the season.
Given what Max Verstappen said at media day ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Red Bull may have no choice but to provide at least a temporary fix.
READ MORE: Marc Priestley thinks Max Verstappen hated looking like an ‘amateur’ during the Australian GP
Max Verstappen hoping to close gap with Ferrari and Mercedes at Chinese Grand Prix
At media day, Max Verstappen was asked about his strong performance at the Australian Grand Prix and how much potential he thinks this year’s RB22 has.
Verstappen admitted that he sees strong potential in the car, but even with that, Red Bull aren’t at the level of Mercedes and Ferrari, which he wants to try and chip away at in China.
“There is a lot of potential, it’s just going to depend on if we can extract that throughout the year.”
“The gap was quite big, and also in the race, I think if I would’ve started a little bit up front, I think the best that I could have done was one spot higher because we didn’t have the pace of the top 4 cars…”
“It is clear at the moment that we cannot fight with Mercedes and Ferrari. Hopefully, we can close the gap a bit, and the gap here in China is certainly no greater than last week. But we’ll see what happens in the coming races.”
READ MORE: Red Bull weight issue cost Max Verstappen ‘two or three tenths’ per lap at Australian Grand Prix
What can F1 do to regain Max Verstappen’s approval?
Max Verstappen’s frustration with Red Bull could lead to exit this season
There has been a lot made about Max Verstappen’s future with Red Bull, especially over the last year after he failed to win the drivers’ championship.
On top of that, Verstappen’s general frustration with Formula 1 over the new regulations has not made things easier for Red Bull.
While Laurent Mekies has made Verstappen comfortable since taking over for Christian Horner, a failure on Red Bull’s part to provide Verstappen with a competitive car could lead to him leaving soon.
There is already concern that Verstappen will step away from F1 when his current contract with Red Bull expires. Him not having a competitive car could only give him further motivation to make such a call.
The Chinese Grand Prix does not have to be a game-changing affair for Red Bull. But they must prove to Verstappen that they can improve the car over the course of the season, at least to the point where he can start competing with the top of the pack regularly.
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
